Senators pull plan to hold $25 mill "contingency" from USF

Senators on Wednesday decided to remove from the state budget and a related bill a $25 million threat to USF.

The money, which was going to be held in "contingency," pending USF's cooperation in splitting off its Lakeland branch campus into the state's 12th university, will now be put back into USF's general revenue appropriations.

The Legislature would still make USF sever its campus, but the university won't have a financial hammer being held over its heads while they do it.

People like Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, who blasted Lynn during an earlier debate about the money. Norman thanked Lynn and Senate budget chairman Sen. JD Alexander for the move, saying it showed their "good faith."

Sen. Evelyn Lynn, chair of the higher education appropriations committee, said she decided to remove that part of the deal because "people seemed upset about it."